Brazil’s Executive foreign affairs advisor said that the breaking of relations between Venezuela and Colombia “weakens” South America and negotiations to bring both sides together should not be seen as a confrontation between Unasur (Union of South American Nations) and OAS (Organization of American States).
In an attempt to take distance from the Colombian guerrilla following claims of his alleged links with the rebels presented by Bogotá before the Organization of American States, OAS, President Hugo Chavez said that “Colombian armed groups must reconsider their armed strategy”.
Former Argentine president Nestor Kirchner added more fuel to speculations about next year’s presidential election when he insinuated that both members of the most powerful couple in Argentina could be running.
Secretary-general of the Union of South American Nations (Unasur) Néstor Kirchner who this week begins a round of contacts indicated that it hurts that two Latin American countries like Venezuela and Colombia have this level of confrontation and promised “to work from Unasur so that we can bring the two nations together and not affect the close relationship between their peoples.”
Chilean President Sebastian Piñera rejected a plea by the Roman Catholic Church that he pardon members of the armed forces over human rights abuses committed during military rule. Piñera said the proposal had caused division in Chile and reopened old wounds.
Russia plans the largest sell-off of state assets since the early 1990s as it seeks to raise over 29 billion US dollars to plug budget gaps over the next three years, finance ministry sources told reporters. The plan to sell minority stakes in 10 major companies in 2011-2013 had been discussed and approved at a preliminary meeting chaired by Prime Minister Vladimir Putin.
With only two and a half months left for October 3 presidential election the ruling party candidate, Dilma Rousseff and Jose Serra from the opposition remain in a technical tie according to an opinion poll released over the weekend. The Datafolha poll showed Rousseff with 36% of voter intention against 37% for former Sao Paulo state Governor Serra.
Uruguay and Argentina continued on Friday working to reach an agreement for the joint monitoring of the Uruguay River, with the goal of overcoming the long-standing conflict over the Botnia/UPM pulp mill.
Colombia insisted Friday that no reply has been given yet to “the heart of the matter” in the diplomatic row with Venezuela and those are the claims of ‘tolerated’ Colombian guerrilla presence in Venezuelan territory. Bogotá also recalled that all mediations and dialogue proposals so far have been “unfruitful”.
Former Argentine president and Union of South American Nations, Unasur chairman Nestor Kirchner will hold talks during early August with the presidents of Venezuela and Colombia in an attempt to mediate an understanding between the two countries, according to reports from the Argentine government news agency Telam.